Briquetting press



May 3l, 1938a R. J. PIERsoL 2,119,243

BRIQUETTING PRESS Filed April 17, 1937 .Patentedl May 31, 1938 A UNITED STATES PATENT oI-FlcEy BRIQUETTING PRESS Robert James Piersol, Urbana, Ill. Application April 17, 193.7, Serial No. 137,462

6 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a press for briquetting material at high pressures.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a press particularly adapted for the formation of a briquetted ribbon formed of bituminous coal without the aid of` an articial binder, compressed at pressures up to seventy thousand pounds per square inch,'the press being adaptable for practicing the method of briquetting coal which is disclosed in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,021,020. The method disclosed in said patent consists of a process for briquetting either ra'w bituminous coal or partially volatilized bituminous coal without the aid of added binders by an impact of a magnitude up to thirty thousand foot-pounds per pound of coal at temperatures up to four hundred degrees centigrade.

I have found by experiment that these energies of impact are equivalent to briquetting pressures up to seventy thousand pounds per square inch and that without the use of added binders a stronger and denser Vbriquette is made from bituminous coals by an impact blow from a falling weight or an impact blow delivered by a rapidly moving plunger than that obtained by the slow application of a steady pressure.

Accordingly it is an important object of my present invention to provide a briquetting press capable of delivering pressures up to seventy thousand pounds per square inch at a'rapid rate comparable toimpaction as contrasted to the time of compression in the usual yhigh pressure hydraulic or mechanical presses, the press being adaptable for the briquetting of -coal without the use of added binders, the cost of which forms the chief item of expense in briquetting coal.

Another object is to provide a, press which will accomplish the desired results with parts which rotate, thus resulting in the elimination of any reciprocating parts and the attendant periodicity of motion in operation.=

A further object is to provide a press in whichv the area of the plunger and die surfaces subject to wear are a minimum for the quantity of briquettes produced and their movement is such that the press can operate at an unusuallyhigh speed without appreciable wear on theplunger and die surfaces and thus it is possible to obtain a relatively high briquetting capacity for thepress.

A further object is to construct the plunger and die' members of a press so that during all stages of impaction the coal is confined so that the application of high pressure will result in the desired I impact-ion of strong stable briquettes without eX- trusion of the temporarily fluid coal between the plunger and die, the coacting surfaces of which are so formed that there is perfect alignment during all stages of impaction,

Another object is to provide a press so designed that it is fully automatic in character, thus eliminating the necessity of any manual operation.

More particularly it is my 'object to provide a press in which the die members are formed on a pair of rotary discs, the faces of which are arranged at a slight angle to each other, the die members being an annular trough and an annular plunger respectively, coacting with each other and the coacting surfaces thereof being formed on a radius from the intersection of the axes of rotation of the discs and thus actually being sections of two concentric spherical shells.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, vin which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a briquetting press embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same on a reduced f scale. 1 v

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2 enlarged approximately to the scale of Figure 1; and I Figure 4 is a. diagrammatic vertical 'sectional view of a slightly modified construction.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference characters B to indicate a supporting base'for my press andD for a lower disc and D' to indicate an upper disc. The discs D and D' carry the die members, one of which is indicated at l0 and the other at I2. The die members I0 and I2 are annular in character, the die member IIJ having an annular trough II formed therein and the die member I2 having an annular plunger I3 projecting therefrom. v

The discs D and D are mounted on shafts I 4 and I5 respectively. lTheshaft I4 is journaled in a bearing I6 of the base B. This bearing is preferably of roller or ball type (not shown). Similarly the shaft I5 is journalled ina sleeve I1. The sleeve I1 `is vertically slidable in a hub I8 of a top plate T, which in conjunction with supporting posts I9 constitutes a frame for thepress.

'I'he axes of the shafts IIIv and I5 are indicated at I4 and I5' respectively. These, it will be noted, intersect at a point marked X. The sides of the annular trough II and 'of the annular plunger I3 are formed on a radius from the point X, thus being sections of two concentric or parallel spherical shells, indicated by dash lines 2|) and 2|.

The discs D and D are preferably backed by annular rows of tapered roller bearings 22 and 23 seating against the backs of thel discs and against a base seat 24 and a top ring 26. 'I'he top ring 26 is vertically slidable in an annular trough 2l of the top T and is backed by a plurality of coil springs 28. 'I'hese tend to maintain a predetermined pressure against the disc D' but permit the disc to lmove upwardly slightly for a governing purpose, which will hereinafter be described, when the pressure exceeds a certain predetermined pressure, downward movement of the disc D' being limited by a head 29 on the shaft I5 and a shoulder 30 on the hub I6 supporting the sleeve II.

The discs D and D' may be rotated by any suitable mechanism. By way of example, I show a ring worm gear 3| on the disc D and a ring worm gear 32 on the disc D. These mesh with a pair of worms 33 which are driven by sprockets 34. The sprockets 34 are operatively connected by a chain 35 and a sprocket 36 vto an electric motor 31.

The arrangement of the dics D and D' at an angle as illustrated and in the position relative to each other illustrated causes a variable de-v gree of ccaction between the right hand sides of the discs as shown in Figure 1 with the annular plunger I3 partially entering the annular trough II.

At the left sides of the discs the plunger and trough are relatively spread apart. This is perhaps better shown in Figure 3, wherein a bracket 38 indicates the section of the plunger and trough which coact with each other while the point of greatest spread between the trough and plunger is indicated at 39.

Located at the left side of the frame for the press, I provide an extracting trough 40 for completed briquettes and an inlet chute 4| is prcvided for the coal 'entering the press to be compressed. 'I'he coal may be supplied to the chute 4| from any suitable source in the form of granules of proper size.

The coal leaves the chute 4I as indicated at C in Figure 3 and as the discs D and D rotate synchronously in the direction of the arrows a it is troweled down by 'a leveling blade v42 to the desired level in the trough II. The coal, where it is troweled down, is indicated at C'.

As the discs rotate the plunger I3 enters the trough I I at the point indicated at 43 in Figure 3 and the plunger engages the coal C' at a point indicated at 44.

Between this dicated at 45,

point and a releasing point, inthe coal is rapidly compressed from the thickness indicated at C' toa thickness indicated at C". 'Ihe compressed coal C" travels with the disc vD to the extracting trough 4II up which it is pushed by the rotation of the disc. This trough is pivotally mounted at 46 so that its intake end rides in the bottom of the trough II to effectively pick u p the compressed coal C".

At the top of the trough 4I) rollers" are provided between which the briquetted ribbon of the compressed coal C" is projected and'a breaker roller48 is provided for breaking the ribbon into briquettes, indicated as C The briquettes C'" may slide by gravity down a chute 46l to a suitable conveyor or place of deposit. For the purpose of scoring the briquetted ribbon C" so that it can be readily broken into briquettes C'".

Practical operation As before mentioned, one of the essential features of the press is perfect alignment of the plunger and die throughout all stages of compression. This alignment is secured even though the discs D and D' rotate relative to each other 4and are positioned at an angle relative to each other by having the outer and inner walls of the trough |I and of the trough II and of the die I3 formed as parts of the two concentric shells 20 and 2|. As a further aid to secure alignmerit,` the shafts I4 and I5 may be extended as in Figure 4 and joined by a ball and socket joint I4"-|5".

'I'here is clearance, of course, between the Walls II and I3 of a few thousandths of an inch to permit'free motion, but not enough to allow extrusion of the material C as it is being briquetted. The trough II is illeted at both edges in order to permit the free. raising of the briquetted ribbon C" by the extractor trough 40.

In usual commercial practice the plunger system will rotate at the same speed as the die system, due to the drag of the material being briquetted so that only the disc D need be driven. Driving both discs, however, insures proper synchronization of the plunger system with the die system.

'I'he material being fed to the die at C is leveled by the blade 42 to the desired thickness and compressed between the points 44 and 45 by the plunger entering the die or trough II. The chute 4I, if desired, may be vibrated to insure a more uniform rateof feeding. The traveling blade 42 may be set at a predetermined position if it is not necessary, -due to the nature of the material being briquetted, to frequently regulate the rate of feeding in response to variations in the maximum pressure exerted by the press on the material being briquetted. I have shown automatic means for regulating the blade 42 consisting of the arms 54 and 56, the rod 53 and the arm 52. Whenever the briquetting pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure, as determined by the tension of the springs 28, the disc D' will float upwardly a slight distance and will move the blade downwardly in proportion thereto, thus decreasing the thickness of the material at C' and `thereby reducing the pressure exerted by the press.

'Ihe briquetted ribbon C" is removed from the trough |I by the extracting trough 40 and as the ribbon strikes the roller 46 it is bent downwardly,

thus breaking sections of the ribbon oil? at the V-shaped Vnotches 51 formed therein by the beads 56 of the plunger I3.

The desirable speed oi' rotation of the press depends to a large degree on its die diameter, the speed, of course being less for larger diameters. For a commercial press having a forty-eight inch diameter, a desirable speed is ifty R. P. M. This corresponds to peripheral speed of six hundred twenty-eight feet per minute. If the briquetted ribbon is four inches wide and two inches thick,

, temperature.

VI have found that the most convenient method of the capacity of such a press is about fifty tons per hour.

In order to explain .the actual operation of my press, I shall describe its operation for one speciiic use which is the briquetting of high volatile bituminous coals without added binders.

The coal to be briquetted is ground or crushed to a size of minus four mesh. This iine coal is heated to a temperature of about two hundred fifty degrees centigrade, in any suitable type of preheater, the period of preheating being about ten minutes.

The coal maintained at this stated temperature is fed directly into the press herein described. In order to form strong briquettes it is Anecessary that the plunger and die be maintained at this In starting briquetting operations,

heating the plunger and die to this temperature is to pass the heated material through the press. About ten minutes is required to raise the plunger and die to the desired temperature and thereafter the temperature remains approximately that oi' i the incoming coal. The briquettes made during the warming up period are too soft for commercial Ause and may be returnedl to the crusher and re-used.

The correct rate of ,feed for each type of coal may be determined by trial runs with the press.

.'Ihe finished briquettes 'may be conveyed either to storage, freight cars or trucks. Even without cooling, the shape of the briquettes results inA large pore space between briquettes whenpiled,

thereby providing free` circulation of air and thus eliminating the fhazard o1' vspontaneous combustion.

Itis my intent not to limit the scope of this invention to the one particular design illustrated nor to limit the use of the press to the briquetting o f coal. On the other hand the design of the press can be modified considerably and the press may be used for various types of molded materials requiringl unusually high pressures at relatively high speedsfor their formation without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is m'y intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of Structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A press of the character described including die and plunger members telescopically movable relative to each other, the sliding surfaces thereof being portions of two concentric spheres, means for feeding material to the space between said members as they niove relative to each other and v means for regulating the rate of feeding. said means being responsive to the pressure of the plunger relative to the die whereby to decrease the rate of feed when the resultant maximum pressure on the briquette being formed exceeds a predetermined value.

2. A briquetting press including a die and a plunger telescopicallyr-,gnovable relative to each other and having sliding surfaces which are por tions of two concentric spheres, means for propelling said die and plunger telescopically relative to each other and also in another direction and means for extracting briquettes fromsaid press comprising a blade extending thereinto on to which the briquettes are projected by movement ofthe press in said other direction.

3. A briquetting press ofthe character described including coacting die and plunger members which move tow rd and away from each formed on a radius from the intersection of the axes of rotation of said discs.'

A5. A rotary briquetting press comprising two circular disks, a die comprising an annular groove in one ofsaid disks, aplunger comprising an annular flange on the other of said disks and cooperating With said die, the cooperating surfaces of said die and plunger being portionsV of concentric spherical shells, said disks being rotatably mountedand the axes of rotation thereof being inclined at an angle with relation to each other.

6. A rotary briquetting press comprising two circularfdisks, arrangedone above the other, an annular groove in the lower diskconstituting a die, an annular flange on the upperv disk constituting a plunger, said disks being rotatably mounted, the axes of rotation thereof being inclined relative to each other, said flange being received in said groove throughout a portion of the circumference thereof and the coacting surbetween -the disks above the top of said groove and below the bottom of said ange.

ROBERT JAMES PIERsoL. 

